Among the many changes, the new rules would require batteries in consumer devices like smartphones to be easily removable and replaceable. That's far from the case today...
I bet it would, depending on the definition of “removable”. A casually removable cover that’s also waterproof usually involves a rubber seal that can fail a bunch of ways. On the other hand, shrink-wrapping the electrical parts of a phone all together is cheap and nearly foolproof.
If they allow batteries that can be replaced with specialised but available tools that might be a nice middle ground.
Most batteries can be replaced relatively easy if you have special tools. The inside of phones is actually surprisingly modular. The hardest part is usually just getting the back cover off without ruining it… and that you can’t easily source original batteries and have to rely on 3rd party ones of questionable quality.
I had a Sony Xperia Z3 which had its charging port and sim tray covered by small pieces attached to the case that had rubber on them so you could open it and use the port and then seal it again. It also had a magnetic charging port that didn’t need water protection.
But iirc, it was said that the waterproof rating was only true as long as you didn’t use these pieces^^
I can think of a design where the battery just sits tight against the top part of the smartphone and you could remove the bottom part with 2 screws (whichs holes aren’t open to the inside of the phone) to spring it out like an SD-Card. That bottom part would just need to have rubber on the inside edges
Would this affect the waterproof ratings of phones? It would make the phone less sealed.
Plenty of phones were waterproof with removable batteries before a marketing campaign.
Yes, I remember my Motorola Defy. I even accidentally tested it in my WC :P
I bet it would, depending on the definition of “removable”. A casually removable cover that’s also waterproof usually involves a rubber seal that can fail a bunch of ways. On the other hand, shrink-wrapping the electrical parts of a phone all together is cheap and nearly foolproof.
If they allow batteries that can be replaced with specialised but available tools that might be a nice middle ground.
Most batteries can be replaced relatively easy if you have special tools. The inside of phones is actually surprisingly modular. The hardest part is usually just getting the back cover off without ruining it… and that you can’t easily source original batteries and have to rely on 3rd party ones of questionable quality.
Maybe companies should be required to sell spare parts at a reasonable rate, then.
I had a Sony Xperia Z3 which had its charging port and sim tray covered by small pieces attached to the case that had rubber on them so you could open it and use the port and then seal it again. It also had a magnetic charging port that didn’t need water protection.
But iirc, it was said that the waterproof rating was only true as long as you didn’t use these pieces^^
I can think of a design where the battery just sits tight against the top part of the smartphone and you could remove the bottom part with 2 screws (whichs holes aren’t open to the inside of the phone) to spring it out like an SD-Card. That bottom part would just need to have rubber on the inside edges